Department for Transport

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Driving Licences

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many HGV drivers who hold either (1) a group C entitlement, or (2) a group C+E entitlement, do not have a driver's certificate of professional competence.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: On 4 September 2021, the number of drivers holding category C or C+E driving entitlement who do not have a certificate of professional competence is shown below: Category C - 149,697 drivers.Category C+E - 159,631 drivers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Local Government: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local authorities regarding achieving net zero by 2050.

Lord Callanan: Ministers in BEIS and across Government meet local authorities on a range of net zero issues through meetings with individual councils, and with organisations such as the Local Government Association and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers. Officials in Government departments also meet local authorities and other stakeholders on the effective design of their respective policies which help to meet net zero goals.

China General Nuclear Power Corporation: Nuclear Power Stations

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to removeChina General Nuclear from further participation in the Bradwell B and Sizewell C nuclear power projects.

Lord Callanan: The Government has been holding constructive negotiations with the developer of Sizewell C since January, CGN has a stake in the project up to the point of Final Investment Decision (FID), however no decisions on the project have been taken, including the potential final configuration of investors. The Government has committed to bring at least one large-scale nuclear project to the point of FID by the end of this Parliament and have entered negotiations with Sizewell C on that basis. Any investment in nuclear projects is subject to thorough scrutiny and needs to satisfy our robust legal, regulatory and national security requirements.

Energy: Finance

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate to allow the use of a Regulated Asset Base funding model for (1) new nuclear infrastructure, and (2) other energy projects.

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for them to have a stake in Sizewell C nuclear power project; and whether the financial return accrued by (1) the taxpayer, and (2) private sector investors, would be the same.

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the cost of allgovernment funding up to the date of the final investment decision on the Sizewell C nuclear project will fall to the taxpayer or be passed on to consumers of electricity.

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the deterioration of the fuel rod sealings at pressure reactors installed in Taishan, China, for the Sizewell C nuclear power project.

Lord Callanan: As we stated in our response to the consultation on a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) for nuclear published on 14th December 2020, we believe that a RAB is a credible model for funding nuclear projects, as it should reduce the cost of finance and thereby reduce consumer bills.We are also considering whether a RAB model could be applied to other low carbon technologies, including transport and storage infrastructure for carbon dioxide (outlined in the government’s response to the carbon capture, usage and storage business models consultation).We have always been clear that any new nuclear project must provide value for money for consumers and taxpayers.Currently no decisions have been taken concerning Government financing of the Sizewell C nuclear power project, ahead of the final investment decision.The Government continues to explore the use of a Regulated Asset Base model for new nuclear projects and believes that this could be a viable means by which to finance new projects. Decisions on how the model would be applied to new projects have yet to be taken and would be subject to value for money and all relevant approvals.BEIS officials are engaged regularly with representatives from both EDF Energy and the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR) on a wide range of matters relating to nuclear reactors.

Department for Education

Cybercrime: Education

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introducecybersecurity education to Key Stage 1 children in order toeducate them on tech literacy and online safety.

Baroness Barran: The introduction of e-safety content in key stage 1 reflects the fact that children are increasingly accessing the internet from a young age. As part of the computing curriculum, pupils are taught the fundamental principles of e-safety and cyber security. These fundamental principles include how to use technology safely and respectfully, how to keep personal information private, recognise unacceptable behaviour, and identify a range of ways to report concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies. Cybersecurity knowledge is then developed right through a pupil’s time in school, with progression in content throughout each key stage to reflect the different and escalating risks that children face throughout life.To support the delivery of computing in schools, the department launched the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) in November 2018, which is backed by £84 million of government funding, to ensure teachers have the knowledge and expertise to deliver all aspects of the computing curriculum with confidence at each key stage, including e-safety and cyber security. As part of their core offer, the NCCE are delivering online courses on cyber security and a range of resources on e-safety for each key stage. This includes a unit of learning on being a competent, confident and respectful user of IT for key stage 1 pupils.

Schools: Radicalism

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the University College London report Addressing Extremism Through the Classroom,published on 7 September; and what steps are they taking to provide schools with the training and tools to teach pupils how to reject extremist views.

Baroness Barran: Officials in the Department for Education have reviewed the report with interest and are engaged with the research team at University College London.The government is committed to supporting the education sector to equip pupils and staff to understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments. The ‘School Snapshot Survey: Winter 2017’ report indicated that 98% of leaders and teachers were confident that their school effectively teaches the values of respect and tolerance of those from different backgrounds, and that 94% of teachers were confident in their responsibilities to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.Our ‘Educate Against Hate’ website provides teachers, school leaders and parents with the information, guidance and support they need to challenge radical views and keep their children safe, including from online extremist influences. The School Snapshot Survey: Winter 2017, published in 2018, highlights that 85% of school leaders and teachers that used Educate Against Hate thought it helped them to understand how to raise a concern. Additionally, 82% felt it helped them to identify signs of radicalisation and 79% stated it helped them promote mutual respect tolerance and understanding of those with different faiths.The department continues to identify and produce high-quality resources to assist teachers to build pupils’ resilience to extremist ideologies. This includes hosting resources from the charity ‘Since 9/11’, who the department has worked with to develop teaching materials ahead of the 20th anniversary of September 11th attacks.The department works closely with and supports the network of Prevent Education Officers based in local authorities, who play an important role in supporting schools. This network provides support and guidance to schools, develops bespoke lesson resources, and provides training to school staff, empowering teachers to approach extremism in the classroom. These practitioners help to inform the development of policy and practice nationally.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have toprovide mental health support for students and staff returning to school.

Baroness Barran: Mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the government. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we have prioritised keeping schools open above all else because they are vital for young people’s wellbeing, as well as their education.We are investing £3 billion to boost learning, including £950 million in additional funding for schools which they can use to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.In May, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we announced more than £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £7 million additional funding for local authorities to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme. This builds on our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme in 2020/21, which provided free expert training, support and resources for staff dealing with children and young people experiencing additional pressures from the last year. Wellbeing for Education Return has been used by more than 90% of councils since its launch last summer: https://www.minded.org.uk/Catalogue/Index?HierarchyId=0_48943_49165&programmeId=48943.Up to 7,800 schools and colleges in England will be offered funding worth £9.5 million to train a senior mental health lead from their staff in the next academic year, which is part of the government’s commitment to offering this training to all state schools and colleges by 2025.Training will provide senior leads with the knowledge and skills to develop or introduce a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in their setting. It will encourage staff to develop their own understanding of issues affecting their pupils, giving young people a voice in how their school or college addresses wellbeing and working with parents and monitoring pupils where appropriate.This support for practice in schools is in addition to the £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support we announced in March, which will include increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams. The support teams - which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges - will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children.The department has brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources.In May, we published the first ever Education Staff Wellbeing Charter: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. The charter sets out the actions that government and other organisations, including Ofsted, will take to improve wellbeing of staff in schools and colleges.Since June 2020, we have funded peer-support and one-to-one telephone supervision from experts, which has supported over 300 school leaders. This June, we launched an invitation to tender seeking a contractor to provide peer support and one-to-one counselling to least 2,000 school leaders, starting in the autumn 2021.We know flexible working opportunities can promote staff wellbeing and have appointed the training provider ‘Timewise’ to train school leaders to implement flexible working practices in schools.

Refugees: English Language

Lord Blunkett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional funding they are providing to (1) mayoral combined authorities, and (2) upper tier local authorities in England, to facilitate the teaching of English to individuals and families arriving from Afghanistan.

Baroness Barran: Work is underway across governmental departments, and with charities and local authorities, to ensure Afghans are properly supported so they can rebuild their lives. Further detail on the support we provide to those we bring to the UK, including levels of funding, will be made available in due course.In his statement on 6 September 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, set out a commitment that adults will be able to access English language courses free of charge through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-to-the-house-on-afghanistan-6-september-2021Afghans being supported through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will be granted ‘indefinite leave to remain’, which means that those who are over 19 are also immediately eligible for English for Speakers of Other Languages and other further education provision through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). This is in line with current AEB funding rules, details of which are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1010290/AEB_2021_to_2022_funding_rules_v2_FINALAugust2021.pdf.

Schools: Uniforms

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms under the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021.

Baroness Barran: The Department plans to publish the statutory guidance in Autumn 2021.Schools do not need to make any changes before the guidance is released. The Department want schools to implement changes in a timely and considered manner to ensure that parents do not incur additional costs from sudden uniform changes.Once the guidance is published, all schools will need to review their uniform policies and make necessary changes as soon as possible to ensure that parents see the benefits of the guidance.

Apprentices: Taxation

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the apprenticeship levy and use part of the levy funds to support pre-apprenticeship programmes to help young people at school build confidence.

Baroness Barran: The apprenticeships levy was created to support the uptake and delivery of high-quality apprenticeships, allowing employers to make a long-term, sustainable investment in the skills they need, and has been set at a level to fund this employer demand. The department currently has no plans to review what apprenticeship levy funds can be spent on.As part of the government’s Plan for Jobs, we are providing a range of support and funding to help prepare young people for the world of work. The department is investing £126 million in the 2021/22 academic year to support the largest ever expansion of traineeships and we continue to rollout T Levels.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide morespecial educational needs and disability (SEND) support to schools.

Baroness Barran: Our ambition is for every child and young person to have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life, regardless of the challenges they face.The government is making a major investment in education, and this includes increasing high needs funding for children and young people with more complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by £780 million, or 9.6%, in the 2022-23 financial year. This will follow an increase of more than £1.5 billion over the previous two years and will bring the total high needs budget to £8.9 billion, an increase of over a third since 2019-20. We have also provided, so far, more than £3 billion to support children, including those with SEND, to catch up with their learning.More generally, it is also providing over £42 million in the 2021-22 financial year to: continue funding projects to support children and young people with SEND and their families; strengthen local area performance; and ensure that they have a voice in the development of SEND services, and information and advice. This includes £27.3 million to support over 60,000 low-income families with children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses; £2 million funding to continue to equip the workforce to delivery high quality teaching to children and young with SEND through the Whole School SEND consortium; and £600,000 funding to the Autism Education Trust to provide a hub of guidance and resources to support families, teachers and other professionals.The government is carrying out a review of the SEND system, which includes looking at the support available in mainstream schools for children with SEND. The review is looking at how to ensure support across all education settings is consistent, high quality and joined up across health and care. Proposals for consultation will be published as soon as possible.

Free School Meals

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand Free School Meal eligibility (1) to all children aged seven to 18 in households earning £20,000 per annum or less after benefits, and (2) to children that are undocumented or living in households as part of the no recourse to public funds immigration system.

Baroness Barran: Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. We think it is important that FSM support is targeted at those that need it most. FSM is an integral part of our provision for families on low incomes, and our wider actions to promote social mobility. The government is considering the recommendations in the National Food Strategy and will respond in due course.We are currently working with departments across government to evaluate access to FSM for families with no recourse to public funds. In the meantime, the existing temporary extension of eligibility will continue until a decision on long-term eligibility is made. Guidance on this extension can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional resources to schools for addressing mental health issues experienced by young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baroness Barran: Mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the government. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we have prioritised keeping schools open above all else because they are vital for children and young people’s wellbeing, as well as their education.We are investing £3 billion to boost learning, including £950 million in additional funding for schools which they can use to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.In May, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we announced more than £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £7 million additional funding for local authorities to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme. This builds on our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme in 2020/21, which provided free expert training, support and resources for staff dealing with children and young people experiencing additional pressures from the last year. Wellbeing for Education Return has been used by more than 90% of councils since its launch last summer.Up to 7,800 schools and colleges in England will be offered funding worth £9.5 million to train a senior mental health lead from their staff in the next academic year, which is part of the government’s commitment to offering this training to all state schools and colleges by 2025.Training will provide senior leads with the knowledge and skills to develop or introduce a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in their setting. It will encourage staff to develop their own understanding of issues affecting their pupils, giving young people a voice in how their school or college addresses wellbeing and working with parents and monitoring pupils where appropriate.Additionally, our Mental Health in Education Action Group, has worked to identify and put in place further specific help to education settings to provide support for children and young people’s mental wellbeing at this critical time, and in the longer term.This support for practice in schools is in addition to the £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support we announced in March, which will include increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams. The support teams - which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges - will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children.The department has recently brought together all its sources of advice or schools and colleges into a single site, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources. This also includes guidance to support relationships, sex and health education curriculum planning, covering of the key issues children and young people have been concerned about throughout the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-mental-wellbeing.

Universities: China

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have provided any financial support to universities which have chartered flights to the UK to ensure that students from China are able to return for in-person studies in the UK.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what assessment they have made of the cost for universities to charter flights to ensure that students from China are able to return for in-person studies in the UK, and (2) what details it holds on the universities which have chartered these flights.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The government has provided no financial support to higher education providers for the purpose of chartering flights for international higher education students from China to travel to the UK, for the academic year 2021/22.The government has received applications from Queen’s University Belfast, as well as three consortia of higher education providers seeking approvals for charter flights for Chinese students while scheduled direct flights remain suspended between the UK and mainland China. The three consortia comprise 16, 24, and 55 named higher education providers respectively. The airlines involved have chartered the planes to travel companies, which sell tickets to the students. The airlines and travel agencies take the financial risk.The government is proud that so many international students choose to study here and is looking forward to safely welcoming them in the new academic year. We have worked closely with the sector to ensure that international students will be appropriately supported and welcomed, including with quarantine requirements. Universities UK International has published bespoke self-isolation guidance for higher education providers to help them prepare for the arrival of students.

Universities: Admissions

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manystudents have been paid to defer their university course for 12 months; and what the total amount of money spent is.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Throughout this year’s admissions cycle, we have encouraged providers to do everything they can to enable students who wish to enter higher education this year to do so. In a small number of cases, providers have seen more students meet the terms of their offers than they have capacity to accommodate, and these providers have agreed alternatives with these students, which may include a place on another course or an incentivised deferral. We do not record the number of students who have accepted incentivised deferrals at providers: this is a private arrangement between the provider and the individual student. In any year, some students choose to defer for a number of reasons.The latest data for the admissions cycle (as at 28 days after A level results day) show that the total number of English students accepted has increased compared with 2020 and 2019, with both deferrals and non-deferrals increasing. The proportion of successful English applicants deferring this year is 0.7 percentage points greater than in 2019.No funding has been provided by the government for incentivised deferrals. Rather, we have provided funding to increase capacity so that more students can take up their places this year, making available up to £10 million in additional grant funding to higher education providers through the Office for Students to help them to increase capacity in medical, dental, nursing, science, technology, engineering, maths, and other high-cost subjects. The government has also provided funding to provide incentives to students to switch from oversubscribed providers to providers with capacity in medicine and dentistry.Alongside this, we have worked with universities, Health Education England, the Medical Schools Council and the General Medical Council to assess and agree how many additional places on medical and dentistry courses could be provided. Students who held a firm or insurance offer at an oversubscribed medical or dental school were contacted by their current university about a £10,000 incentive to change schools under the 2021 Medical School Student Incentivised Transfer Scheme. Students were given the opportunity to transfer to an alternative university which has space and to receive a financial incentive to do so. Participation in the scheme was entirely optional. This has supported more than 80 students to move from oversubscribed medical and dental schools to those which had additional capacity.

Students: Plagiarism

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the growth of essay mill companies during the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether this growth has caused an increase in students cheating.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The government has consistently made it clear that using essay mill services is unacceptable. We have worked with the higher education sector to clamp down on essay mills and to support students who might be targeted by these services. We have also committed to supporting a legislative solution to criminalise essay mill companies.Essay mills are online entities operating across the globe and it is difficult to determine exactly how many are currently in operation – the Office for Students (OfS) recently estimated this figure could be close to 1,000[1]. The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to online learning and assessment appears to have led to a recent increase in the number of websites targeting their services at students in the UK.We have challenged companies from the technology sector to identify how anti-cheating software can tackle the growth of essay mills, and we have worked alongside the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), Universities UK and the National Union of Students to produce guidance for providers on how to combat the threat of ‘contract cheating’ and guidance for students to make them better aware of the consequences of contract cheating, sending a clear message that these services are not legitimate.The OfS has published information and guidance for providers and students, and the QAA has also published a series of guides to support providers to secure academic standards, and to support student achievement during the pandemic. This includes QAA guidance for providers on how to assess digital delivery with integrity.We expect educational institutions to do everything in their power to prevent students being tempted by these companies and to detect and address cheating.  [1] https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/trouble-at-mill-protecting-students-from-contract-cheating/.

Mathematics: Universities

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to protect, and (2) to increase, the funding available for all forms of mathematics at universities.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The government strongly supports all forms of mathematics in higher education. We are pleased many students chose to take up courses in mathematical sciences (39,210 students in England[1]) and that many more enrol on courses involving elements of mathematical study such as engineering, computer science, and accounting.Our student loan system supports students who have the qualifications to benefit from higher education to access higher education, including a range of mathematics courses. Additionally, the government also supports a number of mathematics-based courses via the Strategic Priorities Grant, a funding pot to support the provision of higher education. This includes high-cost subject funding – extra money given to providers to deliver expensive subjects. Mathematical subjects that attract high-cost subject funding are those which have typically higher delivery costs that are not met by tuition fees alone. This includes courses involving the study and application of specialist mathematics such as civil engineering and physics. For the academic year 2021/22, these subjects are in price group B and their high-cost subject funding rate will be £1,515. This is an increase of 4% from the previous academic year – part of our reprioritisation of Strategic Priorities Grant funding towards high-cost subjects which support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost science, technology and engineering subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs.[1] Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student data, Table 49: Table 49 - HE student enrolments by HE provider and subject of study 2019/20 | HESA (English providers only).

Ministry of Justice

Reparation by Offenders: Finance

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to provide dedicated funding for restorative justice to provide equal access across the country and avoid discriminating against either (1) offenders, or (2) victims.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government recognises the value of restorative justice and the benefits it can bring to enable victims to cope and recover, and for offenders to be part of that process.As part of the core funding provided to Police Crime and Commissioners (PCCs) for victim support services, they are able to commission restorative justice services according to their local need. This year, MoJ has allocated around £64.3m to PCCs for core funding. For information, in 20/21, PCCs spent around £3.7m from their core funding on restorative justice. PCCs are also able to utilise other funding streams outside of their MoJ grant for restorative justice.In addition, the Government has provided £4.6m this financial year to fund the Homicide Service. This service provides practical and emotional support to families bereaved by Homicide, including access to restorative justice services

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Environment Protection

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with UK trade partners oninserting clauses on environmental standards into future trade deals.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The UK is seeking ambitious environmental provisions in all future trade deals, including those which preserve our high levels of environmental protection and ensure our trade and environment policies are mutually supportive. Negotiations, including with both Australia and New Zealand, are progressing and the UK is also preparing for the next phase of negotiations, including with India, Mexico and Canada.

Trade Agreements: Human Rights

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with UK trade partners on inserting clauses on human rights into future trade deals.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: HM Government is clear that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international human rights obligations and hold those who violate human rights to account. By having stronger economic relationships with partners, we can have more open discussions on a range of issues, including human rights.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nagorno Karabakh: Peace Negotiations

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the OSCE Minsk Group in identifying peaceful solutions to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh; and what plans they have to consider alternative mechanisms for seeking a peaceful resolution.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government fully supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to settle all outstanding matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In her most recent conversations with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, on 14 June and 6 September respectively, Wendy Morton MP, the Minister for the European Neighbourhood and Americas, reinforced UK support for the efforts of Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Our Embassies in Baku and Yerevan continue to encourage both parties to engage with the Co-Chairs' renewed efforts. The UK Government believes the Minsk group remains the most appropriate mechanism to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict and has no plans to consider an alternative mechanism at this time.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Genocide

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the lessons that can be learned from the Genocide of 1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and what steps they are taking to ensure there is adherence to the Dayton Accords.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK remembers all victims and pays its respects to the survivors of the genocide. The UK continues to fight for justice and to end impunity: this year Radovan Karadžić, convicted in part for his role in the Srebrenica genocide, was transferred to the UK to serve his life sentence. We continue to support the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals' work. The FCDO Minister for the European Neighbourhood, Wendy Morton MP, visited the Memorial Centre at Potočari in July this year and the FCDO has funded the Centre's work on genocide prevention.As a member of the UN Security Council and of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, the UK works to uphold the GFAP's implementation. We worked with likeminded states to prevent Russian and Chinese attempts in the Security Council to close the Office of the High Representative, which oversees implementation of the civilian aspects of the GFAP, and we support the new High Representative in his work. The UK remains committed to supporting BiH's security, democracy and prosperity, underpinned as necessary by limited constitutional reform. It is essential that the authorities in BiH themselves make reforms based on broad consensus and for the greater good of all citizens.

Makomborero Haruzivishe

Lord Moylan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made, if any, to the government of Zimbabwe about the detention of Makomborero Haruzivishe

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK remains concerned about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, including arrests of, and violence towards, civil society and opposition activists. The British Embassy in Harare is in touch with Makomborero Haruzivishe's lawyers as we await the outcome of his appeal.The UK regularly urges the Zimbabwean Government to meet its international and domestic obligations by respecting the rule of law and the freedoms and rights enshrined in the Zimbabwean Constitution, safeguarding human rights, and committing to genuine political and economic reform for the benefit of all Zimbabweans. The Minister for Africa most recently raised the human rights situation in Zimbabwe with Foreign Minister Shava on 9 June. We will continue to speak out, both privately and in public, where we have concerns, and work alongside the international community to support a better future for all Zimbabweans.

Sierra Leone: Bilateral Aid and Capital Punishment

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by Sierra Leone on 23 July to abolish the death penalty; and whether they have any plans to increase bilateral aid to that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We welcome the decision by Sierra Leone's Parliament on 23 July to abolish the death penalty. The Foreign Secretary and Minister for Africa congratulated President Bio and the people of Sierra Leone on this important milestone and we hope President Bio will soon give Presidential assent to make the bill into law. The UK will remain a strong supporter of democracy, development, and the promotion and protection of human rights in Sierra Leone.We have had to take difficult decisions about Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending in all countries as a result of the pandemic. The UK remains a significant global aid partner, with plans to spend more than £10 billion in ODA this financial year, and we continue to have a strong development partnership with Sierra Leone. The Minister for Africa will continue to work with the Government of Sierra Leone to advance our shared priorities.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Dreadnought

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the new planned acceptance date is for HMS Dreadnought.

Baroness Goldie: There is no new planned acceptance date for HMS Dreadnought. The Dreadnought submarine programme remains on track for first of Class, HMS Dreadnought to enter service in the early 2030s.

HMS Vanguard: Repairs and Maintenance

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether HMS Vanguard's Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)) has been completed; and if not, when it will be completed.

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the cost of HMS Vanguard's Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)) is.

Baroness Goldie: I am withholding information regarding the completion date of the Deep Maintenance Project (Refuel) of HMS Vanguard as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces. I am also withholding the estimated cost as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

Afghanistan: Armed Conflict

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what UK military equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan after the withdrawal.

Baroness Goldie: During Operation PITTING and the withdrawal of the UK military from Afghanistan spare capacity was used on flights to return as much equipment to the UK as possible. However, people were prioritised over equipment at all times to evacuate UK nationals and eligible persons under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP). Consequently, a small amount of equipment was left behind or gifted to partner nations.  All sensitive equipment and anything considered attractive to criminal and terrorist organisations was recovered during withdrawal.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to place the order for the three new Fleet Solid Support ships.

Baroness Goldie: The Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ship competition was launched on 21 May 2021 with the issue of a contract notice. The manufacture contract award is expected to be made within two years of the competition launch, following approvals. As announced on 1 September 2021, four consortia, all of which include significant UK involvement, have been awarded Competitive Procurement Phase contracts. The award of these contracts means the FSS ship competition has successfully moved to the next stage.

Trident Submarines: Repairs and Maintenance

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the next ballistic missile submarine will enter its Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)).

Baroness Goldie: The Government does not disclose operational information about Royal Navy submarines as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Department for Work and Pensions

Bereavement Support Payment

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who, between 6 April 2017 and 30 August 2018, experienced the death of a parent but whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) remains ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 6th April 2017 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021. As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.

Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parents Allowance

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who experienced the death of a parent between 9 February 2016 and 30 August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 9th February 2016 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021. As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.

Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parents Allowance

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total number of children who experienced the death of a parent between 9 April 2001 and 30 August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: No assessment has been made of the total number of children who experience the death of a parent between 9th April 2001 and 30th August 2018 whose family unit (1) was not eligible for Widowed Parents Allowance or Bereavement Support Payment, and (2) will remain ineligible for support under the Draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021. As part of the BSP claimant process, the number of dependent children are not captured, and therefore we do not hold the data required.

Bereavement Support Payment

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Supreme Court judgment [2018] UKSC 48, what assessment have they made of the impact on family finances of not providing retrospective Bereavement Support Payment to families where the date of death of a family member was prior to 30 August 2018.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Supreme Court and the High Court have declared the legislation governing Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) and Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) respectively to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in that surviving cohabitees with children cannot access these benefits. The draft proposal for a Bereavement Benefits (2021) Remedial Order was laid before Parliament on 15th July 2021 and proposes to extend eligibility for Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) and Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) to surviving cohabitees with dependent children. The changes proposed by the draft Order have effect from 30th August 2018, as this was the date of the Supreme Court judgment in the McLaughlin case. Where a death occurred before 30th August 2018, there can be eligibility for both WPA and BSP, but awards can only be made in respect of entitlement arising from that date. The proposals in the draft Order are subject to a 60-day laying period during which comments are invited from parliamentarians and stakeholders about the proposals. These comments will then be reviewed and next steps considered. An assessment of the impact on family finances of not providing BSP to families where the death of a family member occurred prior to 30th August 2018 has not been made.

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of rising wages on the feasibility of re-introducing the "triple lock" on pensions in 2022.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Government has introduced the Social Security (Uprating of Benefits) Bill which will suspend the earning linked measure of the Triple Lock for up-rating for 2022/23 only. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for 2023/24 and the remainder of the Parliament. Decisions on the rates for State Pensions are made each Autumn as part of the Up-rating review by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. These are normally informed by earnings and prices data published in October each year. We will review the 2022 earnings growth figures at the appropriate time.

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to take the Consumer Price Index into account when calculating the state pension for 2022–23.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Government has introduced the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill which will enable State Pensions (the basic State Pension, the new State Pension and Pension Credit) to be uprated for 2022/23 only by at least the higher of the increase in prices or 2.5%. Decisions on up-rating for all pensions and benefit rates are made in the Autumn as part of the up-rating review by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and announced ahead of the up-rating of benefits in April 2022. The conventional measure of price increases used for up-rating is September to September Consumer Price Index, this is released in October.

State Retirement Pensions

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost savings that will be achieved through the suspension of the "triple lock" on state pension payment increases.

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment theyhave made of the cost savings that will be achieved through the suspension of the “triple lock” on state pension payment increases.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: Our latest estimates are that the difference between maintaining the Triple Lock in the face of the earnings spike and the double lock could be £4-5 billion. But we will not know the final numbers until later in the autumn.Since 2010, we have increased the value of the full yearly basic State Pension by over £2,050, in cash terms. We now spend over £129 billion a year on pensioners in 2021/22.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Deep Sea Mining

Baroness Sheehan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that industrial-scale deep seabed mining will (1) damage ocean ecosystems, and (2) lead to permanent biodiversity loss.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK recognises the growing pressure to extract deep-sea resources, and is deeply concerned about the potential impacts of mining activities on the fragile marine environment. We have commissioned an independent review of the existing literature in relation to deep sea mining, which will seek to include elements such as environmental, economic and societal considerations, and to identify key outstanding questions and evidence gaps. The terms of reference and a summary of the evidence review will be published in due course. We have committed not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects, unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong and enforceable environmental regulations and standards are in place. Further and detailed environmental impact assessments would be required in advance of any exploitation licence being issued.

Home Office

Nationality and Borders Bill

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 27 July (HL1966), whether they will now answer the question put, namely,whether a child rights impact assessmentwas carried out for the Nationality and Borders Bill; and if it was, whether it will be published.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for the policies being delivered through the Nationality and Borders Bill. This includes consideration of possible impacts on children. The Equality Impact Assessment was published on 16 September.

Treasury

Civil Servants: Remote Working

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Treasury civil servants working from home; and what assessment they have made should civil servants choose to work from other countries.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: HMT offices have remained open throughout the pandemic with access to staff for business and wellbeing reasons and our building health and safety assessment has been reviewed and updated during this period. Staff working from home have been supported through a number of measures, including homeworking Display Screen Equipment assessments to support their health and safety. HMT has been able to deliver its full agenda throughout this period.HMT applies central Civil Service policy in relation to working from other countries.